


Through the Looking Glass

by Ruuger



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Episode: s07e02 Beneath You, Gen, Missing Scene, Season 07
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-02-21
Updated: 2008-02-21
Packaged: 2017-10-02 06:26:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruuger/pseuds/Ruuger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Spike got out of the basement. A missing scene for "Beneath You".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Through the Looking Glass

Spike was patrolling the corridors, making sure that everyone had their passes, when he found it.

A mirror - long as a man and cracked in two, it was lying on its side against the wall, half hidden behind the assorted odds and ends left behind by the construction crew. It must have been meant for one of the bathrooms, suggested the small lucid voice at the back of Spike's head. Cracked during construction and then forgotten in the basement with all the other broken and useless things.

"All the other broken and useless things," Spike repeated, and continued down the corridor.

\----

The mirror had not moved when he came back.

Spike found it odd, because everything else was always moving, always changing shapes and places when he wasn't looking. Or perhaps he was the one who was moving; changing, turning, moving so fast that sometimes he had to bury his head in his hands and scream until it stopped.

But the mirror was still there when he opened his eyes.

He knelt down on the floor next to it and pressed his fingers against the cold glass. His hand cast no reflection, of course, and for a moment he was possessed by a thought that it wasn't a mirror he was looking into, but a rather a window to another world.

"A better world," said the voice.

"A world without you," added Buffy.

Spike's torn nails scraped the surface of the glass as his hand automatically closed into a fist at the sound of her voice.

"You're not real," he whispered hoarsely, feeling the glass bend under his hands when he pressed his palm against it, searching for solace in it's solidness.

Buffy laughed and sat down on her haunches on the floor next to him, reaching towards the mirror until she touched the fingertips of her reflection.

"No, Spike," she said, her lips twisting into a cruel smile as she entwined her fingers with those of the other Buffy behind the glass. "You're the one who's not real."

\----

People came and went, but the mirror remained.

It was waiting for him, every day, in the same place, and he spent hours sitting in front of it, staring into the silver-glass. Some days the mirror was empty and he hugged himself closer just to make sure he still existed, while other days it was so full of people that his own voice was lost among them. He wasn't quite sure what he was looking for, but deep inside he knew that there was something missing. Something he was sure would be there. Had to be there.

A rat scurried past him, and he made an attempt to follow it, when suddenly something caught his eye. A small glint of silver reflected in the mirror, like a fallen star caught in the debris. The rat forgotten, Spike glanced around him to make sure that The Other wasn't looking before quickly scuttling across the floor, catching the small shining star in his hand.

The object felt heavy on his palm, like a large silver beetle, and he shuddered at the thought (chittering, chittering, deep, deep inside) even as he carefully cupped his hands around it to make sure it wouldn't escape. Clutching the small treasure to his chest, Spike crawled back to his hiding place between the filing cabinets before daring to open his fist again.

In the mirror, the small silver rectangle hung in empty air, its weight reassuring on his palm as he ran his thumb across the ornate surface.

Spike closed his eyes and with an experienced hand, flicked open the lighter and remembered.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Image Object (Angles of Refraction Mix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/192619) by [Quinara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quinara/pseuds/Quinara)




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